"I knew that if I had walked into W.W. Mitchell Jr. High and just started pulling the trigger, that I would be responsible for what happened to me."

You? Faced with the apparently desireable prospect of randomly murdering a bunch of kids in school, you chose not to because you were worried about what would happen to YOU? Man, a generation of parents really have failed. K.

Came close, numerous times. School was bad for Tristan, a lot of the time.

However, unlike many in today's society, I am all for personal responsibility. I knew that if I had walked into W.W. Mitchell Jr. High and just started pulling the trigger, that I would be responsible for what happened to me.

A gun, alone and by itself, is no more a thing of violence than a baseball bat or a tire-iron.

The only difference between those items and a handgun is that a handgun is designed for no other purpose than to kill a human being.

Rifles, at lest as sold here in the US, are usually of the hunting variety. Or the quite collectible "Assault Rifle" types.

But I am no more likely to shoot someone than I am to beat them to death with a baseball bat. Unless they come into my home with no permission, with the intent to harm me and mine... then, after I shoot them, and beat the body with a baseball bat, we can discuss the ethical ramifications.....

A gun is a tool for violence. Whether it's protection or not, it's still violence. Hockey is also glorification of violence (and I like it!). OK, I admit NRA and hockey don't really have shit in common. It was a lousy analogy.

Chris Rock said: "Guns don't kill people. Bullets kill people. What need in this country is bullet control. We should make every bullet cost $5000. That way if somebody get shot, you know the mother fucker had to have done something wrong!"

Believing that law-abiding people should have access to the same weapons as criminals isn't quite the same as getting one's rocks off watching people beat one another up on a sheet of ice.

Before anyone says, "But the police will take care of it . . ." When my little rental house was sublet to a drug dealer (crack and heroin) without my knowledge, the police were getting regular calls from several neighbors (who had not yet met me, unfortunately) . . . and did NOTHING for six months. The police never even contacted me until AFTER the dealer moved out on his own.

A neighbor suggested that the police were waiting for another neighbor to contact me and for me to not immediately seek eviction. See, if that happened, they would be able to take my property away and auction it off.

Sorry if I'm not too enthused about the Tucson police or their ability (or desire) to deal with crime; seems they're more interested in finding ways to augment their income than protect the taxpayers who fund their salaries.

NRA sticker, but you don't like Hockey? You support tools of violence, but don't get a kick out of actually watching violence? sorry, don't mean to offend. Just trying to point out a little irony, that's all...

It DID get me to Casa Grande (70 miles) and back today, and I was only soaked and sticky on 90% of my body by the time I got home! (Designing a yard for a couple living in one of them there stucco farms.)

Head -

Nope, no gun rack.

But there IS that NRA sticker . . . Oops, I shouldn't have told you that. Nope, shouldn't have told you that at all.

MY truck cost $600, several pieces have fallen off since I bought it, and it has no A/C. The driver's side window is permanently open about 2" because the motor is burning out, there's a towel on the seat so the spring won't catch my jeans (and leg) again, and the only way to get heat in the winter is to put it on vent and draw it off the engine. When it rains, water splashes into the passenger side speaker, so that speaker is all staticky now. The ultimate greenhouse on wheels, it's about 15-20 degrees hotter inside than out, even with the vent going and windows open (as far as they open). How's that for a hot rod!

Aside from that, it's a wonderful little truck. Gets me where I'm going with 25 mpg city, 27 highway, and no matter HOW hot it is out, it feels cool and refreshing when I get OUT.

Lucky me, I get to drive to Casa Grande tomorrow to consult on a design for a suburb yard. Why didn't these people call me in February!